Off-grid households to receive Alternative Fuel Payments from February

23rd January 2023

The UK government has today also set out more detail on which households will be eligible to receive £200 of support under its Alternative Fuel Payments (AFP) scheme, with the vast majority of eligible households due to receive the payment automatically from 6 February.

The scheme will deliver £200 to households who use alternative fuels such as biomass, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or heating oil, helping around 2 million off-grid households to meet their energy costs this winter. The scheme will particularly support households in rural areas that are not connected to the gas grid. Support was doubled to £200 in the Autumn Statement to reflect the price rises experienced by people using alternative fuels to heat their homes.

Details set out today outline how households can expect to receive the payment, with delivery mirroring the methods used to provide support under the government's other energy bill support schemes. Most households will not need to take any action to receive the support. A small proportion of households will need to apply for the AFP, for example because they do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier. Today’s publication includes more detail on how the scheme will determine which households need to apply for support.